Chelsea Richardson, above, was sentenced to death based largely on the testimony of her best friend, Susana Toledano, below.

I’ve written before on HayLadies! about Chelsea Richardson, the first woman in Tarrant County ever to be sentenced to death. I’ve written about her because she was the girlfriend of a man named Andrew Wamsley, who I attended school with growing up in Mansfield, TX. The two of them, with an accomplice named Susana Toledano, murdered Wamsley’s parents in 2003. I wrote about her appeal this summer because it’s a shining example of how fucked up the death penalty is in Texas.

Basically, the prosecutor withheld evidence from the defense in Richardson’s trial. Now, he’s retired, and this is what he told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram last summer:

“The thing with Chelsea getting a life sentence, that should have happened a long time ago,” Parrish said. “That is probably what is really called for in this case, so I don’t have a problem with that at all. I do have a problem with them saying I was untruthful about something.”

I think it’s worth quoting myself, from my piece back in June: “Forgive me, but this man demanded a jury give this woman the ultimate punishment and four years later he kind of feels like well, sparing her life would have been okay, just don’t say I ever lied about anything, me me me me me? This is how we kill people in the American justice system, are you fucking kidding me?”

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About andrea grimes

Andrea is a journalist living in Austin, TX. She has a master's degree in anthropology and did her thesis work on gender and stand-up comedy. Seriously. Also, she has a bunch of cats. Three of them. Is three a bunch? Discuss.

2 Responses to Chelsea Richardson To Escape Death Row

Talking about this particular situation, it wasnt random ass innocent people that were put to death. They killed people. On purpose. They killed the people who cared for that dude that was a part of it. Doesn’t really matter who pulled the trigger. In my mind, anyone who makes a decision to be a part of something like this doesn’t need to live. There are enough evil people in the world that are still alive and well and free unfortunately.
If your point here is to show how fucked up the system is, I think you picked a wrong case for that. Here, I think at least just Andrew and Chelsea were evil stupid little brats that deserved what they got. Sorry, but kids like that anger me.

An Eye for an Eye, Sorry Chelsea, No sympathy here, you knew exactly what you were doing. So why does she desrve to live? Innocent people are dead, and too early. And why? Because the Root of all evil… Money. If there’s any praying done, Chelsea should Pray for her soul to God. Spoiled Brats

hay ladies!

This is a blog about sex, gender and feminism in Texas. It was borne of love for righteous internet activism, Twitter hashtags and beer. And whiskey. And cats. It is mainly written and edited by Austin journalist and anthropologist Andrea Grimes because she loves to put off real-life responsibilities in favor of blogging. Fellow contributors include graduate students, journalists and corporate shills writing under assumed names. We are always looking for more voices.

If you're a Texan interested in writing with us, please e-mail Andrea at (her first name dot her last name) at gmail.com.

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